FIH Pro League: India Lose 1-3 To Argentina In Shoot-Out

The Indian men's hockey team slumped to its third defeat in the FIH Pro League, losing 1-3 to Argentina in the shoot-out in the first leg match after both the teams were tied 2-2 at the end of the regulation time at the Kalinga Stadium on Saturday. Gurjant Singh (38th minute) and Mandeep Singh (60th) were the goal scorers for India, while Argentina's goals came from the sticks of Nicolas Acosta (45th) and Nicolas Keenan (52nd). It was a terrible shoot-out from Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist India as only Harmanpreet Singh scored, while Abhishek, Gurjant and Sukhjeet Singh faltered.

For Argentina, Keenan, Tomas Domene and Lucas Toscani found the back of the net in the shoot-out.

By virtue of this win, Argentina secured a bonus point and climbed to fourth position in the standings with 11 points from five games.

The Indians, on the other hand, continue to occupy the second spot despite the loss with 13 points from seven matches.

Both the sides will lock horns again in the return leg on Sunday.

The match was a fast-paced, end-to-end affair but it was the Indians who had two good openings created by Harmanpreet in the first quarter but the forwardline failed to deliver.

The Argentines soon had the first shy at the goal but India custodian Krishan Bahadur Pathak, who returned to the side after missing the Spain tie, made a fantastic reflex save to deny the visitors.

Argentina secured the first penalty corner of the match soon but wasted the opportunity as India were put under a bit of pressure towards the end of the first quarter.

The Indians started on the front foot in the second quarter and put the Argentine defence under relentless pressure.

India's efforts bore fruit as they secured three consecutive penalty corners but